Nothing was right after that night. Allistor was scarce around the gym for many weeks, and Ludwig was taking care of the fights and the tournaments and competitions, along with creating new training schedules for everyone. I hardly saw the man outside of the gym, unless he was waiting to drag me off somewhere new and take me to dinner or breakfast or shopping. He always rewarded me with food and a movie and shopping whenever I won a fight, and it was almost as if he was spoiling me. He bought me a coat and new dresses, new shoes, even a new bathing suit. He made sure I went and got my hair trimmed by a professional, and the women were in throws of ecstasy over my locks. All he did, though, was sit back and watch me with a smile. I liked seeing him smile like that; he seemed atop of the world when his eyes shined so brightly, he looked like a man who couldn't be touched or hurt ever again. If it was because he was spending money on me, and treating me so well, I decided I would stop complaining. When I asked Alfred about what was going on, all he did was shrug at me.
"I don't know much about Boss's personal life, Nat. I'm just over there because Arthur's my adoptive brother. All of them are related but they were separated growing up. So they have those weird accents. Kinda neat, huh? But Artie came to America first and adopted me as his bro!" He smiled as he spoke, his face lighting up. He began to tell me a story about how at one point when he and Arthur were still living together he climbed a tree because their cat Oliver had climbed to far up and couldn't get down. I didn't pay too much attention afterwards, wondering if maybe I could get information from Arthur or Rhys or Liam.
I went home early, saying I felt as if I were going to get sick. Ludwig didn't want to clean up the mess so he gave me permission to leave. Kat was still at work and Ivan had Toris over. The two were watching the television when I walked in, so at least they weren't having sex. I went to my room and looked at all the things that were stuffed into my closet; all of the dresses and hats and skirts and shoes and boots. I took out a light blue sundress and slipped it over my head, the bodice tight and cut like a heart with two thick sleeve-like straps. Then it billowed out a little past my knees. The white and pink flowers on it made it even more beautiful, and I tied my hair up and back. I put on a nice sunhat and slipped on my stockings and shoes.
"Vanya, I'm going to go visit Allistor."
"Be careful, my maliutka." He waved, a smile on his face when he saw how I had dressed up. "You look beautiful, sestra."
I said my thanks before scrambling out the door. It took me moment to figure out what way to go, since he was always with me whenever we walked to his house. I never really paid too much attention to where we were going, but now I wish I had. It took me many retries until I got to the country road that I knew would take me straight to his home. The cars that drove by would honk their horns at me if they were full of men, which would often end with my flashing my knife at them. A nice old couple asked me if I would like a ride, but I responded with a shake of the head and thanks, but it was just down the road. The sun was beating down fiercely, and I planned on making Allistor give me lemonade when I got to the house. My trek came to a halt when I noticed two fancy black vehicles in his drive way that I had never seen there before, and my heart began to thump.
Is he cheating on me with someone?
My hands were shaking. My palms were sweaty and I was ready to vomit and run home, but my pride and my ego got in the way of that. I stepped up to his front door and, with great gusto, rang the bell. I knew someone was home, so my fears were only reaffirmed when no one answered.
I'm going to burn all of this shit he bought me! I screamed in my head, biting my lip madly. No, I refused to shed a tear over some man I could easily forget! After minutes of standing, ringing the doorbell, I remembered how he never locked the door. I twisted the nob and, with luck, the door opened wide for me. I walked inside and quietly shut it, setting my hat and purse down on the coffee table next to the door that held their keys and hats. I carefully and silently slipped form my shoes that, if there were to be any noise made, it was not from me.
I'd catch that filthy bastard cheating and someone was going to pay. I stalked down the hallways, each door being opened only a crack; no one was inside any of them. The parlor was empty, the drawing room was empty, the kitchen, the bathroom, even Allistor's section of the house held nothing for me to see! I growled out in frustration, checking the other bedrooms as well, until I remembered Arthur's favorite little sun room. I stepped down the hallway and saw that light was seeping from under the door.
So you were ignoring me.
I peeked inside, but for some reason, everything was quiet. All I could see was Allistor's bright red hair as he sat on the couch, but everything else was blocked from view.
"You were gambling, Kirkland. Using our name to get you money!" A male voice threw out, gruff and scratchy. I turned away from the scene- he wasn't cheating, so I could ask him later, right? As I walked down the hall, my thoughts were going back. I've had six fights recently, and each one I was crowned victor. Was he using my skills to get money for himself? And what name was he using in order to get his money from the poor saps he cheated? As the thoughts ran through my head, a sharp tug on my hair pulled me out of thought.
"Well! We got a rat walkin' round."
the man from that night had my held by my hair. I struggled, but I could feel the pain in my scalp only increasing as I moved and jerked around.
"She's a perty one, too." Snickered another, making me reach for my knife. I slashed madly, being unable to see, but when he let out a yelp and I saw he had hold of bits of my hair I went after him again. He grabbed me by my wrist and twisted it, the blade falling. The other kicked it down the hall- Oh, I had managed to snag him too- and then threw open the doors to where Allistor was sitting. He looked perplexed and shocked, then angry, and then worried when he looked at me, all emotions flashing by in seconds.
"Who the Hell is this, Kirkland?" Asked an older man, probably in his fifties with longer gray hair that was slicked back and tied, as he puffed on a cigar. I shrugged the hands off of my and stood, but Allistor grabbed hold of my wrist and pulled me to sit next to him.
"She's mine. And she aint got shit to do with any of this, understand? If yer pissed take it out on me but the lass 's innocent." I frowned; no one made me their property. But if I was going to get answers, I needed to ignore the situation.
"What's been going on and why is that man who came to my apartment weeks ago here, Allistor." I demanded him answer.
He could not avoid this any longer, he had to answer. I believe he saw in my eyes that if he said something I didn't like, he'd once again become my manager, not my lover or the man I wanted to be with forever; and so he answered me.
"I'm in trouble. I got all my money from working with a gang and, well, started taking bets on your fights. Gamblin'. It got out of hand and now they want their money, and I aint got it." He was glaring lightly at the man in front of him, and my hands touched the cloth of my dress. The things he had been buying me were earned by me and spent on me. They were gathered illegally and now he was in trouble because of it.
"What happens if he can't pay it back?" My eyes flicked to the man, only to see him smile at me. It made me sick.
"We get to take him and put him to the firin' squads. Sounds fitting, don't it?"
If I had a gun I would have held it up right then and there and blasted his head off; I would have made it a real work of art, all the brains splattering against the walls covered in blood. But I looked back to the man in front of me, and my mind was made up. "Put it against me. Everything Allistor's done, all his debts, are in my name. If they aren't paid back I'll take the punishment." The room was full of heavy breathing and silence. But we were occupied; he and I were fighting each other in a battle of dominance with just our eyes. He looked away first. "Fine. I'll write up the papers now." He swiveled in his chair and the two men escorted us out of the room to the front porch, where Allistor looked to me with a crazed gleam in his eyes.
"Ya fuckin' crazy Nat? Ye aint getting' punished for my fuck ups!" He shouted other things at me that weren't going to change my mind until I had had enough and shoved my knife against his throat. This time, it wasn't the blunt edge.
"You are going to shut up. I am in control of my life and if I want to risk it on then you then you had damned well better be appreciative, Allistor. "
The two men came and retrieved us from the porch about an hour later, and a single piece of paper awaited our return. Allistor was sulking, his neck was stained from the small bit of blood spilled in our confrontation, and I read over the instructions. "I expect death, not prostitution." I sneered, slamming the paper down on the table. The man looked back up at me with a smirk before he shook his head. "Doll, you should know the things we do to women aren't the same for men. This is the deal- take it or leave Kirkland with the price on his head." We stared at each other for a while before I broke; using Allistor's life against me was a cheap trick, but it worked, so he obviously knew what he was doing. The Scotsman thrashed behind me, but the two grabbed hold of his arms and slammed him on the ground. He was still struggling and they were having problems; he didn't deter even when they put the gun to his head. "Sign your full name here and we're done." The boss said, and I scribbled away my life.